Wonderland 2049

Part 4

Alice heard the spinner before she saw it. It hovered over the ground in front of the house before settling gently. As the whir of the engines died the doors opened and her father exited the vehicle.

"Father," Alice's voice was flat.

He approached her, his arms open wide. Behind him, several large men stepped out of the vehicle, followed by a smaller one.

"Alice," Pruett called out. He reached her in a few large steps and gathered her in a tight embrace. Over his shoulder, Alice watched the smaller man. He stood surrounded by the others, wearing a long leather coat with fur lapels. He had a narrow face anchored by large blue eyes and light brown hair.

Pruett released her and stepped to the side. He called out to the man, "K," and waved him over.

Alice took a step back. She shivered. It was cold outside, but this was something different. She wasn't reacting to the temperature.

"This is Officer K. He has been hired to look after you and the property, in that order." Alice started to speak, but her father raised a hand, causing her protest to catch in her throat. "This is the way it's going to be. You continue to refuse to join your sister off-world where it's safer. You insist on staying here in the middle of nowhere alone. I cannot force you to go," he paused. "I won't force you to go. But I have to know you are ok. Officer K will keep you safe."

Alice looked at this Officer K. His face was blank, giving away nothing of his feelings about the situation one way or the other. Now that he was closer, she guessed he stood around six feet tall, his age early to mid thirties. She knew he could feel her eyes on her, but he stared straight ahead, not once looking at her.

She turned her attention to her father and said, "I don't need a bodyguard. There are no threats here."

Pruett snorted, "there are threats everywhere."

Alice looked back and forth between her father and Officer K, then said in a cold voice, "whose fault is that?" She turned and went back into the house, leaving the men outside.

After her father left, she refused to leave her bedroom. She had been polite to K, who sensing her mood spoke no more than five words to her. She was irritated and upset by his presence.

How could he just leave this strange man in my house! How could he think this was something I would be ok with! Without a word, she had shown K and his small bag to an empty room off the back of the kitchen. Once, many years ago when her mother had been a young girl, it had belonged to a housekeeper. She left him alone there. Now, she could hear him walking around downstairs.He's probably snooping in closets and drawers. At least he wouldn't dare hurt me, my father would kill him. That's a consolation at least.

Alice laid down on her bed and stared out the window. Dark clouds were gathering; it was going to rain. Summer had given way to fall, and although there was very little green to turn autumn orange and yellow, there was some. There would be a whisper of fall color this year, and that was something that made her smile.